Most conventional cooking apparatus, such as outdoor gas grills, comprise a grill adapted to support at least one food item, and a source of heat which is mounted a fixed distance from, typically below, the grill. The heat generated at the heat source typically does not provide uniform heating over the entire cooking surface of the grill. Burners for outdoor barbecue grills are usually configured in an H-shape which provides uneven heat distribution to food items spread across the grill. Non-uniform heating results in non-uniform cooking of the food items unless those items are moved to a different area on the grill during cooking.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a way of supplying supplemental heat to the food items located on portions of the grill which typically receive less heat.
It would also be desirable to provide a person cooking with greater flexibility and control over the amount of heat supplied to food items being cooked.
It would further be desirable, in certain applications, to provide the person cooking with the ability to accelerate the cooking process with a supplemental heat supply applied to the top surface of food items while a fixed heat source is cooking the bottom.